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Cheam Stars United FC
Cheam Stars United Football Club is an English League 1 (H) side based at the Star Stadium in Cheam. Founded on 28th December 2006, Cheam Stars are managed by Magic Mason (Chris Mason). Club History Season 3 Nine days after their founding Cheam Stars played their first league match away to Bot team #1699. The final result ended 0-2 with two goals from Ford Ecclestone who would later go on to be Cheam's top scorer that season. At this point Cheam SUFC were four games into the season (having joined after 3) and 7 points of the top spot, in the relegation zone. However after the next two league games it was clear that Cheam Stars were destined not for a relegation dogfight but a title challenge, beating the leaders DeathWarriors 1-0 at home and the other active team Negros Limited 3-0 also at Cheam Arena. The team then continued their impressive form fantastically, finishing with an unbeaten run until the end of the season. Only two draws blemished their record, the first being a scoreless game away to mighty reds 1892. Despite beating the leaders a second time away from home even more convincingly (0-2) putting themselves top of the league, the second draw of the season at Uniaao Mucifalense ended 1-1, putting Magic Mason's team again in second place with only three games to go. Being only one point behind DeathWarriors, the team had to hope that mighty red 1892 could force them to drop points on the last day of the season as the leaders had two "Bot teams" in their other games (granting automatic victory). Although Cheam Stars won all of their games, it was not to be as DeathWarriors scraped a win, the only goal of the game being a penalty in the 36th minute. Magic Mason later commented that even though they had failed to win promotion despite having arguably the strongest squad in the league, the players had done brilliantly to get where they were and stated his belief that next season would be their year in League 2 (H2). He also presented Audley Steed the "Player of the Year" award due to his consistently dazzling performances throughout the campaign. Season 4 Cheam Stars United went into their second season raring to go after acquiring four new signings to add to the two who had come in last season. Marcel Kulisek, Gusts Buca, Emiliano Camoes and Miroslaw Ziemski joined the Stars for a combined fee of just over £1,000,000 adding to the previously bought talent of the two portuguese midfielders Antonio Badalo and Tadeu Pombo. It proved to be money well spent as Cheam Stars finished the season with an amazing 100% record winning all 22 of their league games, winning the league by 12 points. The other teams supposedly challenging for promotion, had to settle for a battle for second place, eventually being won by Strumica United. The season also finished well for Cheam Stars United on the goal scoring table, with a combined total of 92 goals being scored shared between over 12 players, Marcel Kulisek proving his price tag of 250K was worth the money leading the charts with 15 league goals. Again Audley Steed had a great season as the playmaker and captain of the team scoring an impressive 7 goals from the centre of midfield. But the real praise had to go to the back four and "sign of the season" Gusts Buca in goal. They were unbeatable in the league, not even conceding a goal in all the 22 matches. The National Cup was also a great success story for the club as in their first season competing for the prize, they reached the Last 16. Despite losing 1-0 to the eventual winners, it was a fantastic achievement considering the opposition that was still in the Cup at the time and the fact Cheam Stars were the only League 2 club still in the draw at that stage of the competition. Season 5 Competing in League 1 (H) seemed a little daunting for Cheam Stars but they soon began to find their feet with two huge wins against Norfolk United and DeathWarriors (sweet revenge), winning 9-0 and 8-0 respectively. However although challenging for promotion that season, Cheam never really looked like favourites, losing 1-0 to Arun Athletic (the eventual winners) and after a few other disappointing results only managed fourth come the end of the season. Despite being five points off the top spot, Cheam Stars United finished comfortably clear of U.K Arsenal (5th place) by 10 points. Ford Ecclestone came to the fore again after last season's indifferent form. Although not becoming top scorer of the league, he managed to achieve second place scoring an impressive 41 league goals. Eleven new signings were made during the season, including a £1.8 million swoop for Italian central defender Lucan Andreoni. This time around the team could not repeat the heroics of last year in the National Cup as they stumbled in Round 4 (of 10), losing 3-1 at home to Football Club Gunners. Cheam Stars were leading for most of the match having scored in the 31st minute but collapsed after the Gunners scored three in the last 18 minutes. Mason praised his team for the seasons performance as a whole happy with their first year in League One. He asked the fans to be "patient" with the team and that they could expect more next season. Uncharacteristically Mason hinted at one or two new signings in the coming pre-season leaving Cheam Star's fans eagerly anticipating new arrivals. Season 6 Before the season had even begun, three new players were brought into the team, experienced defender Matevz Leban and two young talents, tricky winger Jure Simcic and the German frontman Conan Ullich. The season began with high expectations as Cheam Stars were tipped for the title, with their main challengers being Fareham and Stenhouse Cosmos who, last year, had finished third and fourth respectively. Cheam won their first two games 0-5 and 11-0 quickly promoting themselves to the top of the table. Next was Stenhouse away which, for the Stars, was a key game. They went a goal behind just before half time but equalised almost immediately after it, Ford Ecclestone again scoring a crucial goal. It finished 1-1, a good away draw for Cheam Stars but they lost their spot at the top of the table to Walton Town, recently promoted from League 2. Cheam Stars United quickly bounced back winning another 6 games on the trot. By this time it was clear that the Stars main challengers for the title were Walton Town as Stenhouse had failed to win twice more and Fareham were languishing in 5th after a bad run. Cheam Stars National Cup run seemed to look increasingly more convincing as they progressed to Round 5 after an impressive series of wins. However this time the draw was against them as they faced a Premiership team Ispwich Blues at home. The Blues had been having a great season themselves by the time they travelled to Cheam Arena, acquiring second place in the Premiership despite being tipped for mid-table mediocrity. Although Cheam Stars put up a brave fight their hopes of progressing were shattered as two goals from Ispwich, one in each half, ended their resistance. Cheam Stars have recently beaten Fareham at home 2-1 courtesy of a brace from Ecclestone. Their last league match was away to Walton Town, which before the kick-off was labelled as a potential title decider. After a nervy first half, Lucien Stoddard, who has become an almost permanent fixture in the sqaud struck in the 57th minute after some great link up play from Badalo and Ecclestone. The front man's goal proved to be decisive as Cheam Stars United took all three points and went back to Cheam Arena, three points clear at the top of the table. Three more players have signed for Cheam Stars United, backup goalkeeper Kaj Mathisen for a £1K, Netherlands striker Tome Loncar for £500K and holding midfieder Carlitos Casto for £650K. These mid-season signings boosted the Stars in their bid for promotion and after an away draw at Fareham and a home one at Stenhouse, Cheam Stars had won the League two matches before the end of the season. Ford Ecclestone had once again been pivotal in their success, breaking the club record yet again by scoring 84 league goals. Stoddard also contributed with a brilliant 57 leaving Cheam's goal difference sky high. Mason had finally achieved what he had promised the fans last year. Altogether with their performances in the League and the likes of young striker Dirk Neville finding success on loan at Worthing Rovers, the future looked bright for Cheam Stars United. Season 7 Pre Season In the pre-season Mason arranged six friendlies to get the squad ready for their first taste of Championship football. The annual fixture against arch-rivals Cobham SGS Eagles ended 1-1 giving no hint of any possible result come their league fixture in a month's time. Another Championship B friendly against Arun Atletic brought back memories of the dissapointment of two years ago but again ended in a draw (0-0). Then a trip to Argentina to play Boca Juniors gave the club their first win of the pre-season. Despite being the underdogs, Cheam Stars played well and secured a win thanks to Ecclestone, Dixon and some fine goalkeeping from Gusts Buca. Another derby match against Carshalton Beeches United proved too easy for Cheam Stars who cruised through 2-0. The last two games against Turkish club ÇARŞI SPOR and recently promoted Albion Allstars both ended on draws. The sale of Carlitos Casto and Tome Loncar after their dissapointing performances last season left a hole in the Cheam midfield which was to be filled when £2.2 million man Tudor Voican was signed from Decidava. It was a new transfer record and he soon proved to be a great buy with impressive performances in the pre-season. League Cheam Star's first taste of Championship football was away to the consistant FC Tunnel. With many predicting Cheam would be fighting a relagation battle throughout the season, they were expected to lose. But Mason wasted no time in adapting to life as the underdogs, changing tactics to match the strength of the opposition. In League 1 Cheam could afford to be attacking week in, week out but agaist opponents of considerably more talent, offense changed to defense. Playing this new tactic of 5-4-1, Cheam managed to hold out securing their first point of the season with a 0-0 draw. Next up was the match that meant most to the fans. The home game against Cobham SGS Eagles. In the build up Cobham's manager, robso_bobso boldly stated his confidence. It was a hard fought game once again, but Cheam proved the victors when in the 64th minute, right back Matevz Leban towered above Cobham defender Jonnie Samuelson to head home an Audley Steed free kick. The Star Stadium erupted as the players celebrated and despite the managers courtesy handshake come the end of the match, robso_bobso clearly felt disapointed. Following the match came a tough tie against Janissaries. Confidence was high at the club during the week but on Monday there was an incident during training which culminated in a fight involving some of the players. Morale plummetted at just the wrong time and the manager issued fines to avoid further trouble. Janissaries took full advantage of this during the match and thrashed the Stars 5-1. It was an embarrassing defeat for Cheam and despite leaving them a very respectable 5th after three matches, there was a distinct feeling of dissapointment at the club. However it was inevitable that Cheam Stars would bounce back and they did, winning two games on the trot against Albion Allstars and Walton F.C (3-0 and 1-0 respectively). Then came the second big rivalry of the season, Arun Athletic. Playing away from home against a team that had finished 3rd in the Championship last season wasn't going to be easy and the game proved to be just that, Arun clinching it 1-0 despite Cheam dominating possession. Another tough game followed against Championship veterans Draconic Warriors. Once again Cheam Stars just failed to score and were punished for missing a number of chances as the match finished 1-0 to Draconic. Cheam Stars were still 6th in the table but with he upcoming match against Premiership old boys Worcester Park, slipping down the table and losing three matches in a row seemed a distinct possibility. Once again the match was close and to the joy of the travelling fans it was Cheam who broke the deadlock in the 37th minute, a swift counter-attack ending in Audley Steed placing a shot past Worcester keeper into the bottom corner. Cheam managed to hold on to the 80th minute until the inevitable came; Kent Wortham nutmegging Lucan Andreoni with an audacious bit of skill and driving it low past Gust Buca to equalise. The last ten minutes were tense but the Stars managed to hold on for a crucial draw. Cheam carried the same form into the next match, brushing aside Calshot Corns 2-0 away from home then gaining a respectable goaless draw at home to Ooza Looza. The final match before the mid-season break was to be Cheam Star's most difficult so far; away from home against top team U.S Arsenal. Cheam Stars conceded early on after Vali Zmeu slotted past new signing Gederts Garoza in the first 15 minutes. It looked bleak for the Stars and U.S Arsenal were in full control of the game and eventually this possession paid off as Vali Zmeu doubled his tally with a curling shot into the top corner in the 30th minute. However a minute later the Stars counter-attacked and Ford Ecclestone was able to find some space on the edge of U.S Arsenal's area. From there he unleashed a fantastic drive towards the far corner of Patterson's net and the keeper just watched helplessly as it flew past him. Cheam Stars were back in the match and they looked like they were to equalise but Patterson deined Ecclestone his second goal just before half time. However Zmeu was given his chance for a hattrick in the 52nd minute after Monte Tucker brought down Burton Armistead in the box. He did so, executing a confident shot into the center of the goal after Garoza dived to his right. U.S Arsenal looked comfortable from then on and their quality showed, creating many more chances and Cheam had Garoza to thank for keeping the score respectable. When subsitute Lucian Stoddard finished well after another counter attack in the 88th minute it was only a consolation goal for Cheam Stars and they left the field knowing they had been outclassed by a better side. Mason was, however full of praise in the post-match interview saying how he couldn't be prouder of his team for what he described as a valient display against a quality side. The second half of the season saw Cheam Stars attmpt to regain their 5th place spot after slipping down to 8th after the U.S Arsenal game. They begun with an emphatic win against FC Tunnel, thrashing them 8-0 at home. This propelled the Stars to sixth but still two points off fierce rivals Cobham SGS Eagles in fifth. Next up was the derby match against the reds. Despite playing away from home and being behind most of the match, Cheam's fans went home happy after snatching a late goal courtesy of Lucian Stoddard to steal a point. Janniseries were next and revenge was on the cards for their 5-1 defeat earlier in the season. This fired the Stars to victory, the eventual score line a massive 12-0 win; striker Ford Ecclestone scoring an amazing seven goals. Albion Allstars and Walton Town were two games that Cheam Stars were predicted to win comfortably but against Albion Cheam struggled. Despite the valiant defensive display from the 'Baggies', Cheam Stars came out the victors, scraping a close 1-0 win. Walton proved even more difficult but after the Stars took an early lead it looked like it would be a stroll in the park. However it was this complacency that cost the Cheam side, succuming to a 2-1 defeat against arguably the weakest side in the league. Cheam's form then took a dive as they failed to win their next three games. Even though they were against difficult opposition, the Stars were unfortunate to draw 0-0 with Arun, lose 1-0 against Draconic and draw again 0-0 this time with Worcester Park. The next match against Calshot was a must win game for Cheam. With the Stars trailing in 7th, equal on points with 8th place Tunnel FC and four point behind 5th place Cobham, a win was needed to keep their hopes of a higher place finish alive. Win they did, thrashing the Corns 5-0 as Ecclestone scoring a hattrick and Audley Steed with a spectacular effort from range finding the net. Ooza Looza was always going to be a difficult game and Mason knew that if Cobham got more points than the Stars did in their next game, the Reds would be guarenteed to finish higher than United. After a hard fought game, the Stars emerged with a point in a 1-1 draw, and as Cobham had lost 3-1 to Arun, Cheam Stars United could still finish ahead of them. However it was a near impossible task. Faced with then league winners United States Arsenal at home, even though Cobham had second placed Draconcic, for the results to go Mason's way was incredibly unlikely. Cobham lost 4-1 in the end, conceding three late goals and Cheam Stars lost 3-0 despite holding the Champions at 1-0 for most of the game. At the end of the season Cheam Stars United had finished 6th and as Magic Mason said, "It was a very good achievement in our first season in the Championship." Season 8 Pre-Season After the impressive first season in the Championship manager Magic Mason knew he was going to have to build on the squad to keep up with the rest of the clubs in the league and to compete with those coming up. With a hefty transfer budget of around £7 million (after the sales of Camoes, Badalo, Brewer and Kulisek) Mason wanted to solve the long going MR problem that had affected the club in Season 7. GLKS Jonkowo midfielder Olver Moore had been lined up midway through Season 7 as a potential target and it was he who was top of Mason's shortlist. After brief negotiations with the GLKS manager a fee was agreed and Oliver Moore signed for Cheam Stars on 30th December for an undisclosed fee (believed to be in the region of £6,000,000). What was clear is that the player became Cheam Stars United's record signing. New kits were also released which featured a similar home shirt and a change in colour scheme for the away kit, changing to white and blue. It was decided early on that no friendlies were to be arranged before the start of the season. This was partly due to the current stadium expansion (increased to 4800 seast) which made the whole stadium unavailiable for use, and partly due to Mason's new training strategy. Preperations were made for the upcoming league match and anticipation of the draw was obvious amoungst the managing staff. In the end it was rivals Arun Athletic who were to be played on the first game of the season, with arch-rivals Cobham to be played at home on the fourth match into the new season. Mason said before the start of the league season, "It's going to be tough. We have a lot of difficult games against the top teams early on but if we can survive that then we should be alright." He also added, "I must stress though that this season will be our toughest yet by a long way as I cannot see any easy games that we should win comfortably. The possibility of relagation has to be considered." League Cheam Stars travelled to Arun Athletic for their first match of Season 6. New signing Oliver Moore was named in the starting line-up earning him his debut. Cheam Stars began positively but were soon under pressure as Mack Jones had a shot well saved by Gederts Garoza. However Cheam did create chances; an Audley Steed freekick turned over the bar by Athletic's keeper and a dangerous Moore cross almost finding Stoddard. But it was Arun that broke the deadlock in the 29th minute as the infamous Mack Jones turned well and found the top corner with a powerful effort. Cheam Stars held on until the break but the second half didn't see much of a change to the play. Arun still dominated and had the better chances, and even with the introduction of youngster Dirk Neville on 70 minutes, the new Cheam Stars 4-3-3 formation couldn't break down a disciplined Arun defence. On the 87th minute Ford Ecclestone thought he had found a way through but was correctly flagged offside to sum up a dissapointing opening match for Cheam Stars. The next match was against the relagated Premiership side Spankysallstars. One of teh favourites to be promoted, although playing them at home, Cheam Stars faced a very difficult challenge. Mason opted for a 5-4-1 formation that had been fairly successful against similar opposition last season. However it failed to make a difference to Cheam's performance from the last match and Spankys romped to an impressive 2-0 win; two goals in quick succession just after half time, the second being a penalty given away needlessly by stalwart defender Monte Tucker. The result saw Cheam Stars sitting neatly in the relagation zone with zero points after 2 games. Mason knew a result against Tunnel was neccessary to prevent Cheam Stars capitulating. Transfers Season3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7 Season 8 Current Squad Category:Football Clubs Category:English Clubs